1. Technical Field
This invention primarily relates to the field of two way interactive entertainment systems typically provided over cable facilities to a user and more particularly to a method and apparatus for enabling payment transactions at a television terminal for services or items.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
Two way interactive cable television systems are known for transmitting entertainment, information and data signals over a cable facility toward a plurality of users. Home shopping, pay-per-view, and other services are provided via such systems where goods or services are ordered by a subscriber or user and a payment is accepted by the service provider. Typically, payment is arranged over a separate link such as a telephone line to the service provider.
Data may be transmitted and addressed to a particular subscriber of a cable television system over a separate data channel or a so-called "in-band" data channel. In this downstream direction, addressed control data may represent services authorized to a particular terminal or control commands to that terminal. In an upstream direction from a terminal to the service provider or system manager location, control data may represent selections made by a user in response to a polling request or at the time of user selection.
In some known cable television systems, the capability exists to provide a so-called teletext service in which screens of textual information may be provided to a user sequentially at a user's request. Also, a cable television terminal is known which comprises a graphics/text generator for composing text screens from data transmitted on a special channel or inserted in vertical blanking intervals of a video signal and transmitted over a television channel.
Outside of a cable television environment, stand-alone systems are known for hotels and restaurants in which transactions may be entered via remote terminals to be transferred to a central location where they are recorded. At time of check-out or bill payment, a bill may be tabulated at the central location and payment by credit card made without intervention of management personnel.
In a cable television system designed for installation in a hotel, a terminal is known which may report to the system manager short bursts of information such as room number when specifically requested. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,944,742 and 4,360,828 describe such a system in which, for example, a hotel room air conditioner may be controlled from the front desk; a maid may report on the room number of the hotel room currently being cleaned; or the television channel number currently being viewed by a hotel guest may be reported. The data is transmitted upstream over a 12 megahertz data carrier in short bursts and within a predetermined period of time after a polling request.
In view of the above, a requirement still exists in the art for a cable television transaction terminal in which screens of choices may be effectively presented to a user, selections of choices may be immediately reported to a central location, charging for the requested services authorized and accepted and a confirmation of the transaction reported to the user.